Travel

Svay Rieng is a sleepy little Cambodian town of around 20,000 people near the Vietnamese border, nestled in the middle of a small province of the same name. Described by Lonely Planet as having “quite literally nothing to do”, it is a far cry from the heaving backpacker bars and incessant tuk-tuk drivers of Phonm Penh or Siem Reap. Cows and chickens roam the streets while the sandals of orange-robed monks kick up small clouds of dust as they walk to and from the local wats. Other than the chance to experience a side of Cambodia that is missed by many travellers, however, I was there for another reason – to spend a few days volunteering with a couple of locally based NGO’s. With no idea what to expect on my arrival, I now suspect that this may end up being one of the biggest highlights of my time in South East Asia.

As I mentioned in my last post, life in the Mekong Delta is dominated by water. For the people of Cambodia and southern Vietnam who live beside, on and in this vast waterway, the Mekong and its tributaries provide food, transport, sanitation and a whole lot more.

Having had the opportunity to spend many hours on the river myself in recent weeks, I’ve put together this photo essay to provide a brief insight into life on South East Asia’s largest river.

I took this photo while on a road trip with the boys around the North Island of New Zealand a few years ago.  There wasn’t much more than driftwood and footprints on this beach on the Coromandel peninsula.

No trip to Vietnam would be complete without spending a few days checking out the mighty Mekong Delta. Easily accessible by bus from Saigon, the towns and villages on the Mekong River and its tributaries give you a glimpse of a way of life that has been largely unchanged for centuries. To get a better picture, however, you need to leave the safety of the shore and spend some time on the river. One of the best places to do this is in Can Tho – the largest town in the delta – by checking out its well known floating markets.

Of the many things I love about travelling solo, by far the best is that unless you really can’t get enough of your company, you are pretty much guaranteed to meet new people every day. When the only conversation that you’ve had all day is saying good morning to the hostel receptionist or ordering a monosyllabic breakfast, you tend to make a much greater effort to strike up a conversation with a random stranger than you otherwise would. Sometimes you might get little more than a grunt in return, while other times you might have a friendly chat over dinner and not much else. Occasionally, however, you meet some great people that you end up spending a lot longer with than you anticipated, sharing crazy times and amazing experiences with along the way.